Gordon (surname)

Gordon is a surname with numerous origins. The masculine given name Gordon is derived from the surname.

Short
Origin
Region of originScotland, England, Ireland, Spain and Hebrew
Other names
Variant form(s)de Górdún; Gordon (given name); Gurden[1]

Origin of the surname

The Scottish surname Gordon may be derived from several locations.[2] One possibility is from Gordon, in Berwickshire. Another possibility is from a similarly named place in Normandy.[2] The English surname Gordon is derived from the placename of Gourdon, in Saône-et-Loire, France. This location is derived from the Gallo-Roman personal name Gordus. In Ireland, the surname Gordon is of several origins. One origin of the surname is from the Scottish surname, which spread into Ireland in the 17th century during the plantation era; in the Irish language this name is spelt de Górdún. Also, the surname Gordon is an Anglicised form of the Irish language Mag Mhuirneacháin, which is a patronymic form of the personal name Muirneachán. This personal name is derived from the Irish language word muirneach, meaning "beloved".[3] Another origin of the Irish name Gordon is as an Anglicised form of the Irish language surname Mórbhoirneach.[4]

Gordon (Hebrew: גורדון‎ Russian: Гордон) is also a Jewish surname, likely derived from the city of Grodno, in Belarus.[3]

The Spanish, and Galician surname Gordón is derived from places like-named in the Spanish and Galician languages. The Basque language Gordon is also derived from a like-named placename. Another origin for the Spanish surname is from the nickname Gordo,[3] which is derived from the Spanish language word gordo, meaning "fat".[5]

Gordon is also a British Romany surname with origins on the Scottish-English Border; during the 17th and 18th century fearing persecution many Gypsy folk in the North of England and the South of Scotland chose to change their surnames to blend into the local societies they were living within. These Gordons are completely unrelated to other ancestral sources of the name.

List of people

List of nobility
  • Duke of Gordon, created once in the Peerage of Scotland, and again in the Peerage of the United Kingdom

Dukes of Aubigny

Earls and Marquesses of Huntly

Earls and Marquesses of Aberdeen

Earls of Aboyne

Viscounts of Kenmure

Descent of titles during attainder:

  • Robert Gordon, 7th Viscount of Kenmure (1714–1741)
  • John Gordon, 8th Viscount of Kenmure (1713–1769)
  • William Gordon, 9th Viscount of Kenmure (c. 1748–1772)
  • John Gordon, 10th Viscount of Kenmure (1750–1840) (restored 1824)
  • Adam Gordon, 11th Viscount of Kenmure (d. 1847)

Viscount of Melgum

  • John Gordon, 1st Viscount of Melgum (d. 1630)

Viscount Gordon

Spanish Gordons

Fictional characters

References
  1. Reaney, Percy Hilde (2006), Wilson, Richard Middlewood (ed.), A Dictionary of First Names, Routledge, p. 1378, ISBN 0-203-99355-1
  2. Learn about the family history of your surname, Ancestry.com, retrieved 22 May 2010. The webpage cited the following book for the given name "Gordon": A Dictionary of First Names. Oxford University Press. 2003. ISBN 0-19-280050-7.
  3. "Learn about the family history of your surname". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 22 May 2010. The webpage cited the following book for the surname "Gordon": Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-508137-4.
  4. "Surname Search", The Irish Times, retrieved 22 May 2010. The webpage cited the following book for the surname "Gordon": Ó Droighneáin, M.; Ó Murchú, M.A. (1991). An Sloinnteoir Gaeilge & an tAinmneoir. Baile Atha Cliath.
  5. "Learn about the family history of your surname". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 22 May 2010. The webpage cited the following book for the surname "Gordillo": Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-508137-4.
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